Financial Aid Handbook 2019-2020

[Pages:13]Financial Aid Handbook 2019-2020

INTRODUCTION

Each year the Financial Aid Handbook is published to provide students with information concerning the policies and guidelines of our financial aid program. We hope the Handbook will also be of great use as an aid in helping you plan the financing of your legal education.

The Law School has always maintained its commitment to providing financial assistance to students who would otherwise be unable to pursue a legal education. All aid is based on demonstrated financial need and any student with financial concerns about paying for his or her legal education is encouraged to apply for financial assistance whether it is in the form of grants or loans. The Law School will do its utmost to ensure that students receive the financial assistance they need to complete the required three years of study.

As you are well aware, the cost of a legal education continues to rise. What has naturally followed is a larger reliance on the use of loans to finance these escalating costs. While we are confident that many of our graduates who received financial assistance and who are faced with considerable educational debts are able to support these debts due to substantial salaries available within the legal profession, we do realize that those graduates pursuing careers in government or public service require assistance with their loan debt. In response to this concern, the Law School established the Miles and Nancy Rubin Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) in 1985. This program manifests the School's commitment to guaranteeing career choices for its graduates and making public interest law options a more attractive and financially sustainable choice and, in essence, extends the financial aid program for these participants beyond the three years spent at the Law School.

Every financial aid case is unique, but all are governed by polices designed for the benefit of all. It is our hope that you will find this Handbook helpful as you plan ahead. Do keep in mind that the Handbook is an adjunct to financial aid counseling and that you are encouraged to ask further questions and seek out additional information by calling the Office of Financial Aid directly at (650) 723-9247, emailing us at financial.aid@law.stanford.edu, or stopping by Room 107.

Faye Deal, Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid Heather Trujillo Smith, Associate Director of Financial Aid Christina Rosalita, Financial Aid Advisor

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APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID

In order to receive financial aid, you must apply for it every year. Applying for aid is not a commitment to accept the offer. You may decline a fellowship or loan after either is awarded. If you do not apply for aid for your first year you may still do so for your second or third years. To apply for financial aid, the following materials must be filed:

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) All students who are applying for federal funds and who are U.S. citizens or permanent

residents must file a FAFSA every year to determine eligibility for federal aid. You can complete the FAFSA online at the Department of Education's website (). Our Title IV school code is E00341.

CSS Profile Application All students who are applying for tuition fellowship must complete the 2019-2020 CSS

Profile application. As you are completing the application, please keep in mind that you must provide parental information if you are a dependent student or under the age of 29 as of September 1st. This online application is available at CSS website (). The CSS Profile code is 7832. February 15, 2020 is the last day to complete the CSS Profile Application for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Federal Tax Returns All students receiving tuition fellowship must submit signed photocopies of their own

2017 federal income tax return. Students receiving tuition fellowship are also required to submit their parents' 2017 tax return. Please be advised that no tuition fellowship will be credited to a student's account without copies of these tax returns in our office.

Financial Aid Guidelines for 2019-2020 We require that financial resource information from your parents be submitted unless you

are 29 years of age as of September 1, 2019.

Please note that these guidelines are used for tuition fellowship purposes only. All graduate students are considered independent for loan purposes. Returning students must continue to complete a Financial Aid Information Supplement. This form is used to collect information on projected summer earnings, summer addresses, and on- or off-campus residency for the coming academic year. Forms are available on the financial aid website after April 1st and must be completed prior to your departure for the summer.

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TYPES OF AID

I. Need-Based Aid The Financial Aid Office awards several types of aid depending on individual need.

1. Tuition Fellowships At the Law School, tuition fellowships are more properly called grants-in-aid. They

provide the neediest students with a direct grant covering up to one hundred percent of their annual tuition. Students are eligible for fellowship aid for no more than 9 quarters. The grant appears as a credit on your tuition bill with one-third of the total grant being applied each quarter. The grant is tax-free and is automatically accepted on your behalf.

Tuition fellowship recipients are expected to borrow, or earn, the first increment of their need. For 2019-2020, this figure (referred to as self-help) is $47,000. Self-help is based upon the demand for, and availability of, tuition fellowship funds in a given year. It is important to note that the self-help figure is subject to annual adjustment of at least $3,000. The self-help portion of a student's need is financed with loan funds.

Tuition fellowship assistance is provided only when you are enrolled as a student here at the law school. On rare occasions, a student may be given permission to visit at another law school for an academic term based on extenuating personal circumstances. In this situation, a student will not be eligible for fellowship assistance and must instead rely on loan funding only.

Students who have the benefit of tuition fellowship assistance are asked to acknowledge a moral obligation to help future students who will need tuition fellowship aid. This obligation is not legally binding and, as a moral obligation, it is tempered by recognition of the realities of financial capacity. Thus, graduates who pursue relatively low-paying public service employment would usually not be able to contribute as generously as others. The aim of the moral obligation acknowledgment is to assure that financial need will not be a barrier to an education at Stanford Law School.

There are two principal sources of tuition fellowship funds. The first is the Law School's tuition fellowship endowment which consists of nearly one hundred and fifty separate funds that have been acquired through legacies and gifts. The remainder of the tuition fellowship budget is funded by current gifts to the Law School from individuals and organizations, including a number of law firms. The School's vehicle for annual giving, the Stanford Law Fund, accounts for a substantial portion of these gifts. Each fall, the Office of Financial Aid provides tuition fellowship recipients with the names of their particular donors.

2. Long-Term Loans Most students are eligible to borrow from a range of programs to finance their education

covering both tuition and living expenses. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, you are encouraged to apply for a loan-keeping in mind that your loan amount cannot exceed the cost of your education less any resources or other aid. The Financial Aid Office packages the loans in the following order: (1) Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, (2) Federal Direct PLUS loan for Graduate Students and/or Private Alternative loan.

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Students are eligible for an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, up to the annual maximum amount of $20,500. Interest accrues on the Unsubsidized Stafford Loan upon disbursement. The current interest rate on Stafford loans is fixed at 6.6%. A 1.062% origination fee is deducted by the Department of Education prior to funds disbursing to Stanford Law School.

Students are also eligible for a Federal Direct PLUS loan. The yearly limit on a Direct PLUS loan is equal to your cost of attendance minus any other financial aid you receive. Interest accrues upon disbursement of the loan and the current interest rate is fixed at 7.6%. A 4.248% origination fee is deducted by the Department of Education prior to funds disbursing to Stanford Law School.

Students may elect to borrow private alternative loans. The yearly limit is equal to your cost of attendance minus any other financial aid you receive. Interest accrues upon disbursement of the loan and the interest rate is variable. Origination fees are usually not charged on private alternative loans; however terms of repayment vary by each lender.

3. Federal Work-Study The Federal Work-Study program provides support for returning students who work in

public interest jobs during the summer. Students will be considered eligible for Work-Study grants if they qualify for at least $20,500 in need-based federal loan eligibility. Work-Study recipients are paid a salary and must work for at least 10 weeks in a full-time law-related public interest position during the summer. This includes jobs with tax-exempt 501(c) organizations and government entities. Please contact the Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law for further information.

II. Alternative Resources There are several types of aid which are not based on financial need. Eligibility criteria

may vary. Please see the Office of Financial Aid if you wish to be considered for any.

1. Assistantships Two forms of academic assistantships are available: legal and teaching. Legal assistants

help faculty members on individual projects. Teaching assistants help prepare materials and offer discussion sections. All are generally quarter-long appointments. Students are paid a stipend and tuition remission depending on the number of hours worked. SLS guidelines prohibit students from working more than 20 hours per week.

These assistantships are limited in number and appointment decisions are made by individual faculty members, often after interviews with a number of students. Although faculty members are urged to give preference to students with demonstrated financial need, they are not required to do so. Appointments are generally made at the beginning of each term.

The compensation which assistants receive does not reduce tuition fellowship eligibility unless the combination of tuition fellowship, outside awards, and tuition remission exceeds the cost of attendance. However, be advised that the tuition remission you receive will reduce the amount of money you are eligible to borrow. The stipend you receive will increase your student contribution thereby reducing your need-based loan eligibility. Most typically, your graduate loans will be affected and, most typically, we will adjust your loans in the quarter you received the tuition remission. However, in some cases where your appointment exceeds what you may have initially borrowed, our only option is to ask for repayment of those funds already disbursed. If earnings are $1,044 per quarter or less, financial aid eligibility for loans will not be affected.

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2. Cash Advances Students may apply for a cash advance through the Student Services Center via Axess to temporarily help meet basic needs. You may request an advance in the amount of $1000, $2000, or $3000 per term via Axess. The funds will arrive in your bank account generally within 1-2 business days (must be signed up for direct deposit). Once requested, a Cash Advance charge will be posted to the your University bill. No interest or fees will be charged.

3. Outside Jobs A number of law firms, as well as some government agencies in the Bay Area, employ

students to conduct research, assist in the preparation of litigation, or perform other law-related tasks. Pay rates vary. The Office of Career Services receives notices from potential employers and maintains a listing of current job opportunities. However, students are expected to make their own arrangements. All financial aid recipients are required to report outside earnings to the Office of Financial Aid. These positions will not affect tuition fellowship eligibility during the current academic year. SLS guidelines prohibit students from working more than 20 hours per week.

DETERMINING FINANCIAL NEED

Before need-based aid can be awarded, a need analysis calculation must take place. Need is determined by subtracting your resources from your expenses. Any shortfall is your need. The various components of expenses and resources are detailed below.

I. Expenses and Student Budget Rather than scrutinize the exact amount each student spends on rent, utilities, books, and

the like, Stanford University, like other schools, uses an estimated budget which it applies to all students. The budget allows for a modest, but not unreasonable, standard of living.

Car expenses, such as automobile payments, insurance, and maintenance and personal debt such as credit cards are not considered a part of the student budget. Students are encouraged to use personal assets or other personal resources to pay off these debts before they enroll at the Law School.

To determine loan eligibility, the Office of Financial Aid uses the following standard single student budget:

Tuition

$62,175

Living Allowance 28,035

Books & Supplies

1,530

Student Services Fee 1,701

Health Services Fee

678

Local Transportation 1,305

Medical Insurance

5,592

Total: $101,016

This budget applies to the majority of Law School students. The exceptions are married students with or without children, students in non-standard academic programs (such as visiting students or joint-degree candidates) and students living off-campus.

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II. Resources Since the Law School uses a standard budget to calculate expenses, it must determine

individual need by assessing individual resources. For tuition fellowship eligibility, these include parents' contribution, student's contribution, personal assets, and spouse's contribution. For loan eligibility, these include student's contribution, spouse's contribution, personal assets, academic year earnings, and outside awards.

Your budget less your available resources constitutes your need.

1. Parents' Contribution Tuition fellowships and loans have different criteria for determining a student's financial

independence from his or her parents. In determining loan eligibility, all graduate students are considered independent and no parental contribution is imputed. In determining fellowship eligibility, we use the student's age to determine independence. The following independence rules are in place:

If you are 25 or younger as of September 1, we will take into consideration the full extent of our calculated parental contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.

If you are 26 as of September 1, we will protect 25% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 75% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.

If you are 27 as of September 1, we will protect 50% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 50% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.

If you are 28 as of September 1, we will protect 75% of your calculated parental contribution and use only 25% of that contribution when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance.

If you are 29 as of September 1, no parental resources are considered when determining your eligibility for our need-based scholarship assistance. Therefore, you need not submit any parental financial information to Need Access.

2. Student's Contribution from Summer Income In determining tuition fellowship eligibility for all students, any earnings over $6,000 will

require 57% of the amount over $6,000 as a resource.

For continuing students, if you opt not to work during the summer, we will still expect a minimum contribution of $2,000. If you are volunteering for the summer and your organization can document your employment, the minimum contribution for the student may be waived.

For returning students, total summer earnings are determined by taking gross weekly earnings and multiplying by a minimum of ten weeks or up to a maximum of twelve weeks.

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In determining loan eligibility, the contribution from income for single students or married students with no children is equal to 50% of after-tax income. After-tax income includes a $10,360 living allowance for a single student or a $16,620 living allowance for a married student. The contribution for married students with children varies from 22% to 47% of after-tax income. There is no minimum contribution.

3. Student's Contribution from Assets In determining tuition fellowship eligibility, a student's initial assets upon entrance are

pro-rated over three years of study. One-half of the asset protection allowance is subtracted from net assets. We then divide this adjusted value by three to determine your annual contribution from assets. If assets increase by $5,000 or more during the second year or third year, the higher amount will be used and prorated for the number of years remaining.

Any cash gifts to support your education will be considered a resource. The amount will only reduce your ability to borrow loans.

The Law School assumes that students who have worked in the tax year prior to attending Law School have saved some portion of their earnings. The Office of Financial Aid imputes minimum assets, based on a student's adjusted gross income for the tax year prior to enrollment. If the student has assets greater than the minimum expectation, the actual amount will be used. The following table is used to compute the minimum asset contribution from prior year income:

Adjusted Gross Income Less than $20,000 $20,000-24,999 $25,000-29,999 $30,000-34,999 $35,000-39,999 $40,000 and up

Imputed Assets 0 8% $2,000 + 10% over 25,000 $2,500 + 20% over 30,000 $3,500 + 30% over 35,000 $5,000 + 40% over 40,000

In determining loan eligibility, the contribution from assets for single or married students with no dependents is assessed at 20%. The contribution from assets for students with children is assessed at 7%.

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